Luara doesn't tremble when silence opens before her, but feels its weight as if it were physical matter landing on her shoulders, not to crush her but to remind her this choice isn't just hers, but everyone's who breathes under same Moon now observing, demanding and ancient, as if awaiting someone finally having courage stopping asking permission to exist.

Kade is beside her, not one step ahead, not one step behind, and this detail changes everything, because for years he occupied ...